RUCKMAN Rhys Stanley will miss Geelong's do-or-die clash with Fremantle on Saturday after scans confirmed he had strained his left calf.

Stanley was sidelined for the second half of Saturday's loss to Hawthorn after re-injuring the same calf that kept him out the week prior against Richmond.

While the club is hopeful it will be only a one-week setback, it paves the way for Ryan Abbott to earn a recall after he made way for Stanley following his debut against the Tigers.

Abbott will face competition from last year's No.1 Zac Smith who has enjoyed a strong run of form in the VFL since his return from a back injury, having not played AFL since round nine.

On Monday night, coach Chris Scott confirmed on Fox Footy's AFL 360 Stanley would miss at least one week but didn't rule him out for the season.

"He won't play in the next game. I just think we need a little bit of time, I'm not briefed well enough to give an expansive answer on it, except to say he won't be available this week," Scott said.

"It is a re-injury, which tends to be a little bit more serious than an initial injury. It's not a good result, because he was becoming important to us. It clearly hurt us in the game, too, it was in the first quarter when he hurt himself, so it clearly had an impact."

The Dockers are expected to again go in with second-year big man Sean Darcy with Aaron Sandilands still fighting a calf injury.

Cats defender Zach Tuohy is hopeful he will be fit to play despite a small crack towards the outside of his right hand.

Tuohy spent the quarter-time break against Hawthorn having his hand strapped behind closed doors before returning to play out the match.

"(It's) a little bit sore, a bit of swelling but pretty confident (I'll play)," Tuohy told reporters on Monday.

"To be honest I can't really remember (how it happened). It was very innocuous, what it was. I remember being surprised that my hand was sore."

Fellow defender Jed Bews will also need to prove he's ready to return from a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the loss to the Hawks.

Bews ran laps during last week's main training session, clearly favouring his injured left side.

Meanwhile, fringe midfielders George Horlin-Smith and Jordan Murdoch were each fined $500 for separate dangerous tackles during the Cats' VFL win on Saturday night against Essendon.